Rock or iron, which one better?

Amid the ferocious racial hatred for Russians in Western countries, "China's friendship for Russia is 'rock solid' and the prospects for cooperation are very broad, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said," Reuters. "Cooperation between the two countries brings benefits and well-being to the two peoples, he told his annual news conference." China certainly benefits. "Russia has agreed a 30-year contract to supply gas to China via a new pipeline and will settle the new gas sales in euros, bolstering an energy alliance with Beijing amid Moscow's strained ties with the West over Ukraine and other issues," Reuters. Reliable and cheap energy supplies over 30 years will help the Chinese economy enormously. "China is considering buying or increasing stakes in Russian energy and commodities companies, such as gas giant Gazprom and aluminium producer United Co. Rusal International, according to people familiar with the matter," BS. Not only is China profiting on cheap energy but on cheap aluminium as well. "On the London Metal Exchange, spot prices for the metal have surged above $3,300 a metric ton for the first time since June 1988. Worse, manufacturers are paying eye-watering surcharges above the LME price to get hold of the physical metal," ET. Aluminium is "the most widely used non-ferrous metal, ahead of copper. And because it's everywhere, the price rally will hit everywhere, too, adding to global inflationary pressures and eating at the margins of many manufacturing companies." Except for the Chinese. Thus, inexplicable Western hatred for Russia is making China much stronger. Russian President Vladimir Putin must be confused as to whether "rock" stands above or below "iron brother" Pakistan. In October 2021, "Chinese President Xi Jinping...hailed relations between China and Pakistan as between 'iron brothers' in a phone conversation with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan," CGTN. Khan "spoke highly of China's selfless assistance to his country". Iron maybe cheap but, "Beijing's debts are squeezing Pakistan's pinched finances as external payments are set to balloon to USD 14 billion at the end of this financial year and nearly half is owed to Chinese commercial banks, largely for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) related projects, a media report said," ANI. A bankrupt "Islamabad has requested Beijing to forgive debt liabilities owed to China-funded energy projects" but "China has declined to restructure $3 billion in liabilities", TOI. However, every time you point a finger at someone, remember 3 fingers are pointing back at you, pinterest. Consumer price (CPI) inflation rose to a 40-year high of 7.9% in February in the US and core inflation rose to 6.4%, the highest since 1982, marketwatch. Democrats could lose the Congress in midterm elections, Vox. "Only three midterms featured negative real income growth by Masket's metric, and all went badly for the president's party, with two being among the worst performances in modern times." "Hate, it has caused a lot of problems in the world, but is has not solved one yet," Maya Angelou.